e cocoa-nut.

We are utter strangers to their religion; and but little acquainted with
their government. They seem to have chiefs among them; at least some were
pointed out to us by that title; but, as I before observed, they appeared
to have very little authority over the rest of the people. Old Geogy was
the only one the people were ever seen to take the least notice of; but
whether this was owing to high rank or old age, I cannot say. On several
occasions I have seen the old men respected and obeyed. Our friend Paowang
was so; and yet I never heard him called chief, and have many reasons to
believe that he had not a right to any more authority than many of his
neighbours, and few, if any, were bound to obey him, or any other person in
our neighbourhood; for if there had been such a one, we certainly should,
by some means, have known it. I named the harbour Port Resolution, after
the ship, she being the first which ever entered it. It is situated on the
north side of the most eastern point of the island, and about E.N.E. from
the volcano; in the latitude of 19 deg. 32' 25" 1/2 S., and in the longitude of
169 deg. 44' 35" E. It is no more than a little creek running in S. by W. 1/2
W. three quarters of a mile, and is about half that in breadth. A shoal of
sand and rocks, lying on the east side, makes it still narrower. The depth
of water in the harbour is from six to three fathoms, and the bottom is
sand and mud. No place can be more convenient for taking in wood and water;
for both are close to the shore. The water stunk a little after it had been
a few days on board, but it afterwards turned sweet; and even when it was
at the worst, the tin machine would, in a few hours, recover a whole cask.
This is an excellent contrivance for sweetening water at sea, and is well
known in the navy.

Mr Wales, from whom I had the latitude and longitude, found the variation
of the needle to be 7 deg. 14' 12" E., and the dip of its south end 45 deg. 2' 3/4.
He also observed the time of high water, on the full and change days, to be
about 5h 45m; and the tide to rise and fall three feet.

CHAPTER VII.

_The Survey of the Islands continued, and a more particular Description
of them._

1774 August

As soon as the boats were hoisted in, we made sail, and stretched to the
eastward, with a fresh gale at S.E., in order to have a nearer view of
Erronan, and to see if there was any land in its neighbourhood. We stood on
till midnight, wh